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Oakland Business Groups, Fed Up With Occupy, Appeal To Quan

OAKLAND (KCBS) – Two Oakland community benefit districts have told Mayor Jean Quan that it's time to once again clear out the Occupy Oakland tent city at Frank Ogawa Plaza. The Downtown Oakland Association, and Lake Merritt Uptown District Association claim the city is being threatened by weak, confusing and inconsistent messages out of City Hall.

The two groups of large and small property owners have banded together for three years to improve downtown Oakland through self-imposed taxes. The improvements range from hanging plants, to welcoming businesses, to paying for the orange-vested maintenance and security ambassadors.

"What's happened over the last few weeks has really started to erode some of that good work, and we don't want to see that happen," said Lake Merritt Uptown President Deborah Boyle.

KCBS' Anna Duckworth Reports:

Boyle and Downtown Oakland president J.C. Wallace sent Mayor Jean Quan a three-page letter calling her inaction extremely frustrating.

Wallace said that the infiltration of the Frank Ogawa Plaza encampment by self-proclaimed anarchists has been nothing to do with the Occupy movement.

"The mayor needs to take a stance that there's an illegal element to what's being done at Frank Ogawa Plaza," said Wallace. "It's a public park and people don't feel safe there anymore."

Mayor Quan has stated that she is again calling for a dialogue between representatives of the encampment and the city.

(Copyright 2011 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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